Wildlife charities warn of damage from UK aid cuts

Climate correspondent Nick Ferris talks to groups around Britain and Africa about the cost-cutting of key programmes already taking place, and fears for the difficult years ahead

- 

UK conservation charities key to protecting wildlife around the world have warned that the government's slashing of the international aid budget will have a dramatic impact - severely damaging a lifeline for fragile ecosystems as costs and cut and leaving many organisations fearing for the future.

With the UK cutting its overall foreign aid budget from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of gross national income (GNI), data shows support for nature and conservation is set to receive a particularly stark hit worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

While the government has said it is committed to protecting nature and battling the climate crisis, The Independent has uncovered evidence that cuts are already having a devastating blow on conservation programmes.

One organisation is the African People and Wildlife (APW) charity, which carries out conservation work in Tanzania. The charity has two projects running this year that were “generously funded” by UK aid, according to Dr Laly Lichtenfeld, co-founder of APW.

The first of these projects supports conservation activities on Lake Natron, which is a critical ecosystem home to vast flamingo breeding grounds, where APW carries out activities such as grassland restoration and sustainable grazing support in order to help people live in balance with the landscape and to adapt to the changing climate. The second project is about providing practical tools for people to manage human-wildlife conflict, particularly in relation to elephants and large carnivores.